New Bedford man charged with Montana murder

WHITEFISH, Mont. -- A 41-year-old man, convicted of strangling his girlfriend to death in New Bedford in 1987, was arrested here Friday for killing his wife with a karate chop to the neck.

Leroy J. Schmitz was ordered held on $1 million bail after his initial appearance Friday in Flathead County Justice Court, in Kalispell, Montana, on the charge of deliberate homicide.

If convicted he could face the death penalty.

In New Bedford, Mr. Schmitz was sentenced Sept. 23, 1987 to 18-to-20 years in state prison for manslaughter after pleading guilty to killing Barbara Seed, 44, at their Acushnet Avenue apartment.

According to the department of corrections, Mr. Schmitz was released from prison in April 1997, after receiving credit for time served and good behavior.

At Mr. Schmitz' sentencing in 1987, he admitted strangling his girlfriend after an argument, telling the judge he tried to revive her.

Several hours after Ms. Seed died, Mr. Schmitz told two counselors at the New Bedford mental health crisis center he had strangled his girlfriend and needed help.

Prosecutor Thomas Esch, of the Flathead County Attorney's Office in Montana, said there are enough similarities between the New Bedford and Montana killings that Mr. Schmitz' 1987 conviction could be used as evidence in his impending trial.

"In Montana, under very limited circumstances, we're able to bring up prior bad conduct, but it has to be relevant," Mr. Esch said in a telephone interview.

According to Whitefish police, Mr. Schmitz flagged down a passing motorist in Whitefish, Mont., at about 2 a.m. Friday, asking for the person to call an ambulance for his wife, Mary Ann Schmitz.

According to the complaint filed in court by Mr. Esch, when police arrived on the scene outside the motel where the Schmitzs lived, they found Mr. Schmitz performing chest compressions on the 41-year-old woman.

Mr. Schmitz told officers he and his wife had been "stargazing and drinking" when they got into an argument. She hit him in the head with a bottle after he poured beer on her, he told police.

According to Mr. Esch's complaint, Mr. Schmitz told police he then "struck Mrs. Schmitz in the throat with the edge of his right hand."

Mrs. Schmitz was dead upon arrival at the hospital.

Mr. Esch said he did not know how long Mr. Schmitz had been in Montana -- where he is originally from -- but that he and Mrs. Schmitz had only been married since April.

Mr. Schmitz is due in Flathead County Justice Court for a preliminary hearing on June 29.

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